NTSC, B&W and Color, Dolby Digital Stereo, Menu Language English, Full Screen 4:3. Highly mobile divisions of tanks were a critical element of the German Blitzkrieg strategy during World War II. Time and again, the Germans... more &raquo would use massed concentrations of tanks to punch through lines of defense and rapidly exploit breakouts to surround and cut off their opponents. In this program we examine the origins of the Panzer divisions, their evolution and deployment, and their tactical uses on the battlefield. Features rare archive film, stunning new 3-D graphics, new footage of the surviving machines, and unique insights from Dr. Niall Barr of the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and Professor John Erickson from the University of Edinburgh, leading authorities on armored warfare.&laquo less

Movie Reviews

They get so many things wrong...

JAG 2.0 | IN United States | 06/02/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This video is a British production and, like most stuff from the UK about WWII, they get most of it wrong.

There is a tendency for Brits to lay claim to helping create Blitzkreig by enlessly talking about Fuller and Liddel-Hart. These men, whose thoughts were indeed far-sighted, had little effect on German military doctrine. Blitzkreig developed from the Strosstruppen tactics of 1917-1918 with the addition of reliable cross-country vehicles. A great many germans who commanded Panzer forces such as Rommel, Balck and Manstein were infantrymen or artillerymen by training and were not influenced by British theorists.

The 3-D graphics focus on tanks only. The real German doctrine focused on "all arms" combining the tank with infantry, artillery, and anti-tank units to achieve its effects. The maps of various campaigns are misleading in that they show german attacks as linear warfare where a line of armies march forward more-or-less in unison. This is exactly the opposite of the facts. The germans actually determined where the schwerepunkt or 'focus of effort" was to be made and ruthlessly exploited it. In France 1940, army group B's attack was a diversion, army group C was static facing the Maginot Line while army group A made the decisive attack through the Ardennes, across the Muese and onward to the coast. The doctrine taught them to find the weakest point and ruthlessly exploit even the smallest breach in the enemy's defenses.

This video gets so many things wrong, both big and small, that I simply cannot recommend it. I gave it two stars because they got a few things right, the 3-D graphics were kinda neat and archival footage was used well."